Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 21:15:35 -0400 From: Steve Smith <sgs at aginc.net> To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Netiquette Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> lee gilliland wrote: > > I have volunteered to do a short netiquette and acronym list for the WSFA > chat. Any suggestions would be MOST appreciate. The list so far; The "official" Internet posting guidelines are at http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html. Note that this is very old (1995). A lot of the links have expired. Most of the things they reference are still available if you're interested; you just have to do a bit of Googling to find them. It also contains a lot of references to administrator things and suchlike; not our problem. (Note -- The "Requests for Comment" are the standards that govern te Internet.) My thoughts on the subject are at http://www.wsfa.org/list/02/3/01001310.htm Abbreviations: Google is your friend. Type in an abbreviation and you'll probably find an explanation near the top of the list. Remember, abbreviations are for the convenience of the writer -- nobody misses them if you spell them out. And there are collisions -- there's no guarantee that everybody will assume the same definition. (If "instant messaging" cellphones take over here the way they have in the rest of the world, we'll all have to learn new abbreviations soon anyway.) Emoticons: Some of us got tired of cute, complex smileys during the Reagan administration. Outside of the basics like (:-) and (:-(, remember that the joke isn't funny if you have to explain it. (What would you expect %(:-) after a post to mean, for example?). <Pontificate>For more complex nonverbal activities, I like putting things in angle brackets</Pontificate> Some people like to put nonverbal actions between asterisks. *shrug*. Whatever. Asterisks are usually used to provide *emphasis* without SHOUTING. -- Steve Smith sgs at aginc.net Agincourt Computing http://www.aginc.net "Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."